The Will of Rubber
by sableu
Summary: Luffy died at Marineford trying to save Ace, but Ace survived and now two years later he has heard that there's a tournament taking place with the Gomu Gomu no mi as the prize. Unwilling to let anyone else have his brother's devil fruit, Ace joins the tournament- and finds himself face to face with a figure from his past.


Ace stared at the odd-looking man in front of him, confused. "Really? You were going to get the Gomu Gomu no mi…for me? Why?"

Bartolomeo nodded aggressively. "I was, Ace-senpai! I…I've been following Luffy-senpai's life for a long time, ever since he survived at Logue Town by an act of god. I always thought he was amazing, and when he died…" he trailed off. "Well, I heard someone had found his devil fruit, so I came here to get it! I can't let someone who doesn't care about Luffy-senpai have it, so I was planning from the beginning to win it and give it to you if I could find you. You're his brother, after all, the one he died for, so there's no better candidate."

"…Thank you."

"Of course-" Bartolomeo started to say.

"Fire Fist Ace will not have the Gomu Gomu no mi," a voice interrupted from behind them, echoing eerily around the colosseum hallway.

Bartolomeo spun around, nerves immediately pricked. Apparently he'd been in a lot of fights regarding "Luffy-senpai" before, and was always prepared to launch into another one.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" he spat at the stranger, who was tall and thin and wearing an expression that bordered on dangerous. "Don't speak to Luffy-senpai's brother like that! Of course he'll have the Gomu Gomu no Mi, there's no one who deserves to carry on Luffy-senpai's legacy more!"

The stranger said nothing and shoved him out of the way with ease, despite his considerable size.

Ace immediately shifted into a defensive stance. "Who are you? What do you want with the Gomu Gomu no Mi?"

The stranger looked at him, studying him. Sizing him up, probably. He had wavy blonde hair, and one of his eyes was clouded, covered by a painful-looking burn scar. He was dressed neatly, in a top hat, cravat, and long-coat. There was something so familiar about that hat, but Ace didn't dare think from where.

"You're okay," the stranger said, sounding a bit breathless. His face was confusing and hard to read, a mixture of surprise, sadness, relief, and something else Ace couldn't place. "You disappeared for two years. I was terrified. I tried to find you. I thought maybe you…"

"Who are you? What are you on about?" Ace asked, narrowing his eyes. He didn't understand a word the man was saying.

"Ah. Sorry. It's been so long, of course you wouldn't recognize me. I'm…your brother."

Now Ace was angry. "You're not my goddamn brother. I only have one brother, and he died in that fated war two years ago. I couldn't save him. You're _not_ him."

"I know I'm not. But I think…you had another brother, didn't you?"

Ace went silent, staring at him, taking in every detail. That blonde hair, that fair skin, that top hat with those particular goggles wrapped around it- that same mischievous light in his eyes, if a little duller now.

"Sabo," Ace said quietly, frozen in place.

The man nodded, a soft smile dancing across his lips. He looked nervous, like he thought Ace might hit him, but Ace couldn't. He didn't know what to do.

"You're alive," Ace said, though it was more of a whisper. "All this time we thought you were dead."

Sabo hung his head. "I'm sorry. If I could've, I would've-"

"It doesn't matter," Ace said. "You have nothing to be sorry for. I-I'm the one who should be apologizing. He died in front of me. I should've saved him, I should've- I broke my promise to you. You asked me to take care of him, and I didn't. Don't fucking apologize to me! You should be angry! You should hate me!"

"I didn't save him either," Sabo pointed out, keeping his voice carefully calm. "You're not to blame, Ace. I understand your feelings, but…you're not, and neither am I. It took me a while, but I've accepted that."

Ace looked away, and suddenly it really hit him. That his brother, his first best friend, the person he'd thought was gone for so many years was standing in front of him. He was living, breathing, speaking words of comfort and smiling that goddamn I'm-sad-but-I-don't-want-you-to-see-I'm-sad-because-I-don't-want-you-to-be-sad-too smile that Ace remembered from their childhood. He was _Sabo_.

And then Ace started to do something he'd done a lot for the first year after Luffy died, and not once during the second year when he'd felt too empty to even speak half the time- he started to cry.

Standing in place, he sobbed, and Sabo kept smiling that infuriating smile, except now he was starting to shake slightly, gloved hands balled into fists.

"I wanted to ask you…if it's okay," Sabo said. "…If I take his devil fruit. Because I don't have one already and I thought maybe…maybe it'd be best…"

"Take it," Ace said through his tears. "You deserve it." He looked up, looking Sabo in the eye. "I'm just so glad you're alive."

Sabo's smile quivered, faltered, and finally broke into a million pieces. Tears gathered in his mismatched eyes and slipped down his cheeks even as he tried to hold them back. "I'm so glad you're alive, too. We lost so much…you lost so much, I know that. But you're alive. Thank you for staying alive. If you'd died…I would've been all alone."

He stepped forward and pulled Ace into his arms. It was so long since Ace had been hugged, since he'd let another person that close, he'd forgotten how good it felt. He pressed his face against Sabo's jacket, letting his tears slip into the tweed. They were both hurting so badly, they knew. They were both in incredible pain, and had been the past two years. Now, though, they were together again, and the pain didn't feel so heavy anymore. It almost felt manageable, with both of them carrying it.

After a long time but nowhere near long enough, they broke apart. Ace wiped his eyes and nose and stifled a laugh, the first laugh since who knows when.

Sabo frowned at him, perplexed. "What?"

"You're going to look so ridiculous with Luffy's devil fruit. I can't even picture you with those goddamn stretchy arms, can you?"

Sabo smiled, and this time it was genuine.

"Oh, shut up, Ace."


End file.
